The Law Office of Benjamin S. Bolas, LLC is an independent law firm organized and operated by Benjamin S. Bolas in Philadelphia, PA.
Ben is an experienced attorney who provides quality legal services directly and affordably to nonprofit organizations and their leaders.
Clients & Services
Ben provides legal services to a variety of nonprofit and tax-exempt organizations throughout every stage of an organization’s life cycle, including organizations that are just getting started.
Clients
Ben has experience working with a wide variety of organizations, including:
- Public charities
- Charitable organizations
- Educational organizations
- Environmental organizations
- Social services organizations
- Community organizations
- Churches and religious organizations
- Supporting organizations
- Private foundations
- Private non-operating (grant-making) foundations
- Private operating foundations
- Social welfare organizations
- Business leagues and trade associations
- Social clubs
- Other entities
- PA business corporations
- PA public benefit corporations
- PA LLCs and partnerships
- Charitable trusts
- Unincorporated associations
Services
Ben has experience representing and providing legal counsel to clients in connection with a wide range of matters, including:
- Preliminary Review, Analysis, and Planning
- Assisting founders and leaders in considering various entity, governance, and management structures to help them achieve their charitable, financial, tax, and family planning objectives
- Mapping organizational structures and analyzing the legal and tax consequences of structures involving several related or affiliated entities
- Advising on the legal and tax implications, risks, costs, and benefits associated with new activities, proposed transactions, and/or organizational changes
- Corporate Governance
- Formation documents
- Bylaws
- Corporate governance policies
- Actions requiring board and/or membership approval
- Resolutions and actions by unanimous written consent
- Corporate governance questions, including:
- Fiduciary duties of directors of PA nonprofit corporations and trustees of PA charitable trusts
- Conflict of interest and potential conflict of interest transactions
- Tax-Exempt Status
- IRS exemption applications (IRS Form 1023, IRS Form 1024, and IRS Form 1024-A)
- IRS requests for retroactive reinstatement of tax-exempt status
- IRS requests for miscellaneous determination, including reclassification of tax-exempt status (IRS Form 8940)
- PA sales tax exemption (PA Rev-72)
- Compliance at the Federal, State, and Local Levels
- Providing representation before the IRS, the PA Department of Revenue, and the City of Philadelphia Department of Revenue
- Responding to notices and resolving questions, issues, and liabilities with taxing authorities
- Providing guidance on real estate and other state and local tax matters (e.g., applying for and utilizing the Federal Rehabilitation Investment Tax Credit and the Pennsylvania Historic Incentive Tax Credit)
- Advising on IRS compliance matters including:
- Annual information return review and guidance (IRS Form 990, IRS Form 990-N, IRS Form 990-EZ, and IRS Form 990-PF)
- Unrelated business activities and unrelated business taxable income
- Issues pertaining to private benefit, private inurement, self-dealing, and excess benefit transactions
- Grant-making and expenditure responsibility
- Advising on PA compliance matters including:
- PA charitable solicitation registration (BCO-10) and PA Institution of Purely Public Charity Registration Statement
- Fundraising compliance
- Acceptance of restricted gifts and use of restricted funds
- Fundamental change transactions
- Dissolution of a PA nonprofit corporation
- Final distribution of charitable assets
- Entity Relationships
- Contractual relationships
- Grant agreements
- Fiscal sponsorships
- Joint ventures, affiliations, and other collaborative relationships
- Single-member LLCs